Cardinals join Chiefs for practice before preseason opener

The Chiefs have another break from training camp Sunday before returning for another work week on Monday. They’ll have some company at Missouri Western State University when the Arizona Cardinals arrive.

The Chiefs have another break from training camp Sunday before returning for another work week on Monday. They’ll have some company at Missouri Western State University when the Arizona Cardinals arrive.

The teams will hold a joint practice on Tuesday. The Chiefs and Cardinals will work separately on Wednesday. They will meet Friday night at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City’s preseason opener.

For many of the Chiefs’ young players hoping for a roster spot, it’s a big week. Coach Romeo Crennel indicated that for evaluation purposes, Tuesday’s practice might carry the most weight of any during training camp and that the practice video might be the most scrutinized by the coaches.

“They’re going against a different person, a different player that they really don’t know,’’ Crennel said. “As you work against your own teammates, you get to know the strong points, the weak points, what they like to do. When you’ve got a completely different guy you’re going against, it’s good for us to get that evaluation to see how our players will be able to react against their players.’’

Otherwise, the practice will look similar to the regular camp workouts. The teams will not scrimmage.

“The thing I want to emphasize is that it is practice,’’ Crennel said. “We’re going to follow a similar script to what we do in our practices.’’

As far as Friday night’s game, Crennel said he will take a more traditional approach to the preseason than used last year, when their starters played little in the first couple of exhibition games.

“You build during the preseason,’’ he said. “We’ll build with the starters and gradually give them more time as we go through the preseason. Part of the preseason is to try to evaluate the young players, so see what they can do under pressure and see what they can do when the lights are on. If we can get a good evaluation on those guys that can help us make good decisions come cutdown time.’’

“I mentioned that to (the players) as well, that the game will be here before you know it. So they have to get as much done as they can to improve their game before Friday night.’’